"Go if you want to waste your time," he says, dismissing me with a wave. "But don't pretend it's strategy. It's weakness dressed as diplomacy."
I turn to walk away.
"And Nikolaos?"
I pause at the door.
"Try not to embarrass me if you go."
I shut the door and walk down the hall.
That's my father. The biggest fucking asshole I know.
Either way, I'll continue to do what I think is best. He'll die one day, hopefully one day soon, and things will be done my way.
"Claudia," I call to my assistant.
"Yes, sir."
"Book the private plane to Chicago. I leave in three days."
Tonight,the Kastaris hotel is turned into a fortress. Security is tight. Men in dark suits with earpieces, cameras hidden in architectural features. I pass through the checkpoints with surprising ease. My cousin is part of the family after all.
The ballroom is decorated nicely and full of people.
I head right to the bar and order a drink. As I look around, I start to recognize people from other families and I can't help but see them all as wolves in black suits.
I lean against the bar and take a drink. Shit, half the people here want something. The other half want to survive.
As for me, I'm not sure what I want, not yet anyway, but one could always use something the Kastaris family has.
I scan the room, looking for my options to connect, negotiate with, or trade, and then I see her.
Calli Kastaris. The untouchable sister.
Well what if she's not so untouchable. I never considered her to be my connection but maybe it's time I reintroduce myself to someone I haven’t seen in a decade. I'm sure my father would be thoroughly annoyed but he doesn't have to know.
She's in a black dress with red lips. A slit up the thigh that could look suggestive on anyone else, but on her? It's elegance.
Her brown hair is loose, cascading past her shoulders. She wears a pretty smile and moves with grace. She laughs at something a guest says. Her hand brushes someone's arm. She nods graciously, perfectly poised.
My God, how does someone change so much in ten years?
I shouldn't watch her. But I do. I can't help it.
She doesn't see me.
Not yet.
I don't drink. I just hold the glass and watch her move through the crowd. How she tilts her head when listening. How her smile never quite leaves her face. How her eyes make it all seem so genuine.
If I knew any better, I'd set my drink down and walk away. But she won't let me.
There's something about her that pulls at me. Something familiar and foreign at once. Not just primal desire. I've felt that before. This is something different.
I must go from one end of the room to the other, ignoring everything else around me.
A woman with fiery red hair approaches her. The Kill brothers' sister, I think, but I forget her name.
